Alabama In; Ohio State Out In College Football Playoff

Georgia and Alabama were named to college football's four-team playoff this afternoon, giving the Southeastern Conference half of the field for the first time in the four-year history of the event.

The Crimson Tide (11-1), which lost to Auburn 26-14 in its last game two weeks ago, will play No. 1 and reigning national champion Clemson (12-1) in what is expected to be the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans.

With Alabama's No. 4 placement, it sets up a rematch of last season's national championship game won by Clemson.

A two-loss team has never made the College Football Playoff.

Despite winning the Big Ten Championship on Saturday, the Buckeyes will not be playing for a national championship. The Sooners haven't been ranked worse than No. 5 since the selection committee unveiled their initial 2017 rankings in Week 10.

Ohio State made a strong case to secure the final spot with a 27-21 victory against No. 4 Wisconsin on Saturday in the Big Ten Championship Game. "And so we played three top-five teams, and we won two of them".

"I was kind of hoping we had those good wins". Oklahoma makes the playoff for the second time, its first appearance since 2015.

Oklahoma (12-1) overcame a stunning loss to Iowa State in October to win its third straight Big 12 title with a commanding 41-17 win over TCU. Quarterback Baker Mayfield is the favorite to win the award next weekend.

"You want to get the four best teams in the playoff", Alabama coach Nick Saban told ESPN before the pairings were announced. Alabama's best win this year came over an LSU team that lost at home to Troy and a Florida State team that finished sixth in its own division. Don't put too terribly much in the seeding of the teams - it's important for jersey colors and who calls the coin toss - because this should be about as evenly-matched of a semifinal as you'll find.

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